VW Golf to be released locally

**Egan101** · April 20th, 2016 10:56 AM

The VW Golf has just been launched. It will come with a 1.4L turbo engine rated at 148hp/250Nm. Only tranny available is the 7-speed DSG (dual-clutch) automatic. Price of the lower model is at 1.59M, higher trim is at 1.739M.

http://www.topgear.com.ph/news/car-n...ef=home_feed_1

**EQAddict** · April 21st, 2016 09:17 AM

Overpriced. I love the GTi. Had it for a week. But id rather wait for the all new wrx rather than be robbed by their pricing.

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**Egan101** · April 21st, 2016 12:11 PM

Originally Posted by EQAddict

Overpriced. I love the GTi. Had it for a week. But id rather wait for the all new wrx rather than be robbed by their pricing.

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The VW Golf 1.4T is more like an expensive Focus 1.5L Ecoboost. Will you pay 50% more for the VW brand name?

For the price of the Golf GTi, the VW Passat 2.0T seems to offer better value.

**Egan101** · May 30th, 2016 12:30 PM

Test drove the Golf 1.4T last Saturday. It was an Ayala event with Honda, Isuzu, and VW showing off some of their models. Honda brought their Mobilo and HRV. Isuzu brought the MU-X 3.0 and D-Max 3.0. VW brought the Golf 1.4T, Jetta 2.0TDI, and Tiguan 2.0TDI. I already test drove the Jetta TDI so it was a no-brainer for me which I chose to take for a short drive.

The Golf 1.4T does not feel underpowered. The small 1.4 turbo is good enough to bring it to speed when you feel like flooring that accelerator or when you need to pass in a hurry. It is quicker than my Fiesta Ecoboost. I like the options presented by the tranny control (Drive, Sport, Manual). However, I did not like the orientation of the manual tranny control as you push up to gear up and pull down to gear down. It would have been better if it was the other way around (pull down to gear up, push up to gear down). As usual with DSG/DCT, there is some gear hunting in low gears on crawling speeds but it gets smoother on 3rd gear and up (this one has 7 gears).

We were in Laiya Batangas area so I took the car for a spin in the two lane road of Laiya. It carves the corners well and the car offers a good amount of grip. The engine will rev as eager as you push the accelerator. You can feel the torque starting to pull at 1500 rpm and the turbo starting to spool just before you hit 2000 rpm. The test car was still in the break-in period (less than 500 KM) and with such new cars, the ECU will adapt more to how the owner uses the car. The 17" wheels come stock with 225/45/R17 Continental Sport Contact tires. There was no squeling on hard acceleration as I did try to sprint the car from a stop to 100 kmh when a portion of the road opened up. However, there was one time I heard the tires squeal after a bend with me shifting from a low gear to higher gear pushing the tachometer to 5000 rpm. The steering is responsive despite being electronic and I like the feel of the steering wheel. The brakes offer a refined feel and not the abrupt bite though it offers a good amount of bite when you need to stop from more than 60 kmh. I don't know why VW opted to use an electronic parking brake system on it when a hand brake would have been a simple yet user-friendly option. You have to turn on the car and step on the brake pedal to disengage the electronic parking brakes.

The ride is composed and the suspension is a bit stiffer than the Jetta. It is roamy inside for what looks like a small car outside. The Jetta though is more comfy inside. The rears offer good enough space but not as big as the Jetta. It does have rear aircon vents. I did not mind the trunk space as I know it won't offer much. You need to be at the wheels of this car to enjoy it. The dash used slate gray plastics as accents in a predominantly black theme but an all black dash looks cooler. The car comes with a nifty feature that tracks nearby objects, a collision avoidance system for the rear and front. The alarm will get annoying if you're stuck in bumper to bumper traffic but you have the option to mute the alarm. The in-car entertainment system is a touch screen head unit but I did not have the time to test it.

Overall, I feel at home with car. It is more like a bigger version of my Fiesta Ecoboost, a more refined and capable hatchback. The only heartbreak for this car is the price. The retail price is 1.59M. You can bring home more car for your money with a 9th-gen Accord 2.4L (Honda is offering the Accord 2.4L with a 150k discount thus lowering the price to 1.59M) or a CUV (Forester, CX5, Xtrail, etc). If it was priced at around 1.2M, it might be worth considering.

**EQAddict** · May 30th, 2016 10:51 PM

I agree. Even the GTi is way over priced.

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**jut703** · May 31st, 2016 09:25 AM

At the end of the day, even if it's fun to drive, I wouldn't get a Golf 1.4T over a Miata that costs almost the same. That would be infinitely more fun to drive with much more flair.

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**Egan101** · May 31st, 2016 09:56 AM

Originally Posted by jut703

At the end of the day, even if it's fun to drive, I wouldn't get a Golf 1.4T over a Miata that costs almost the same. That would be infinitely more fun to drive with much more flair.

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For 300k more, the Miata with its flair & beauty or the WRX with its grunt and angst are something worth considering. As I have said, a midsize car or CUV makes more sense at the price range of the Golf 1.4T.

Even the price of the new Civic Turbo with its quickness and new features is something to be thought about because of its 1.398M price tag.

If the powers that be suddenly place all sporty compacts at the same price range of 1.2M, which would be the best bet?

Mazda 3 2.0R SkyActiv
Honda Civic 1.5L Turbo
Hyundai Elantra 1.6L Turbo
Ford Focus 1.5L Ecoboost
VW Golf 1.4T
VW Jetta 1.4T